Posts for: December, 2017

I should let you know Mr or Mrs reader, in the business of feet, there is no such thing as a perfect foot. I have yet to come across a person who has never had foot pain (or at least discomfort) of some sort at some point in time. It’s the nature of the body part.

There is a unique chain of events that occur in the lower extremities in order for us to move, groove and shake to get us to where we’re getting. If you remember the rhyme, the hip bone is connected to the leg bone, the leg bone is connected to the knee bone, and all the way down to the foot. It all ends in the foot. When the stress of holding and supporting the entire body becomes too much for the foot, things start to break down.

Most injuries, no matter where they are, will heal with a little time. Problems with the feet present a different challenge when a musculoskeletal injury occurs. Bend a finger the wrong way and you can use the other hand for a few weeks. Hurt your shoulder? A sling and some advil will fix you up. Chronic issues in the lower extremities, especially the feet, are more difficult to treat because very few humans walk on their hands. Every step taken will cause further pain and swelling once an issue arises in the foot.

The best way we can control the mechanics of the foot is with a custom orthotic, fabricated for the individual. I’m sure you’ve seen similar products on the shelves of most shoe stores, but: a) these aren’t medical devices, and b) these aren’t customized to the anatomic contours of the patient. To properly support the foot, an orthotic needs to be made of materials strong enough to reposition the foot, and padded well enough to make the device comfortable.

Through my extensive training in sports medicine and experience rehabilitating a wide variety of musculoskeletal injuries, I have seen many different formulations of orthotic devices. I say without reservation that those offered by Advanced Podiatry are far superior to most I’ve seen. They will talor the device to suit the patient’s lifestyle and shoe choices to allow for the best combination of function and fit.

A Lisfranc fracture is a common injury of the foot, usually suffered in a high impact fashion. This causes the 1st and 2nd metatarsal or long bones of the foot to separate. A Lisfranc injury is sometimes complicated to treat as this is one of the most important supportive ligaments to the structure of the foot.

This type of injury can require surgery, but with some new advances in technology we have been able too achieve amazing results with the use of a period of immobilization and external bone stimulation devices. Above are images of a female patient who suffered such an injury. As you can see the bottom of the 2nd metatarsi bone is clearly broken, however the next image shoes it healed in only about 5 weeks!

This is just one example, but if you find yourself with a foot injury we are here for you too!